Billed for Merchandise You Never Received?

Suppose, you've finally found the perfect set of sheets in a mail order catalog or at an online merchant shop. You place your order and charge it to your credit card. You’re informed by the merchant that the sheets should arrive in two weeks. Two weeks go by, then three and four, and still no sheets. Anxiously awaiting the arrival of your sheets, a credit card bill for the sheets arrives instead. You don't want to pay for something you never received, so, what do you do when you get a credit card bill instead of your purchase?  [read more]

Credit and Your Consumer Rights

A good credit rating is very important. Businesses inspect your credit history when they evaluate your applications for credit, insurance, employment, and even leases. For various reasons, such as a temporary loss of income, an illness, even a computer error, your credit can be damaged. Resolving credit problems  can take time and requires patience. [read more]

Preventing Identity Theft

Becoming the victim of identity theft and fraud can be an extremely traumatic event.  Identity theft is a very disheartening crime.  You can victimized by complete strangers or very close relatives.  Identity theft can be mass production scams or individual con artists.  Identity theft can negatively affect your credit rating and lead to debt.  Your credit rating is an important tool that facilitates the financing of mortgages, car loans, etc.  Increasingly, employers are checking the credit reports of prospective employees.  Given the importance of your credit in today's environment, it is essential that consumers take steps to protect their personal information.  However, even when the consumer does everything right they can become the victim of identity theft. [read more]

What is a FICA Credit Score?

Credit scoring is a system creditors use to help determine whether to give you credit. Information about you and your credit experiences, such as your bill-paying history, the number and type of accounts you have, late payments, collection actions, outstanding debt, and the age of your accounts, is collected from your credit application and your credit report. [read more]

Can You Really Fix Your Credit: Credit Report Repair Scams

“Credit repair” advertisements commonly appear in newspapers, on TV, on the radio, mail fliers, on the Internet, and even telemarketers. They all make the same claims: “Credit problems? No problem!” “We can erase your bad credit-100% guaranteed.” “Create a new credit identity-legally.” “We can remove bankruptcies, judgments, liens, and bad loans from your credit file forever!” "Free Credit Repair." "Bad Credit Repair." Do yourself a favor and save some money -- these advertisements are false.  Only time, a conscious effort, and a personal debt repayment plan will improve your credit report. [read more]

Using Credit Counseling Services and Debt Management Programs

From time to time, any consumer may have problems paying their bills and need a little help to get out of debt.  Credit counseling agencies can help consumers pay their bills through a debt management plan. Once enrolled in a debt management program, the consumer pays a specified amount of money each month to the credit counseling organization. The organization uses these payments to pay your bills, e.g. credit card, student loans, medical expenses, or other unsecured debts according to a payment schedule they’ve worked out with you and your creditors. The real benefit of using these types of program is that your creditors may agree to lower interest rates, or waive certain fees if you choose to  repay your debt through a credit counseling service. Find out beforehand as typically the condition of using a credit counseling service may appear on your credit report. [read more]

$$$ Money - Get It, Spend It, Save It:

A blog featuring consumer information ranging from taxes, credit, loans, insurance and more…

• Foreclosure Tax Relief Available to Many - The Internal Revenue Service unveiled a special new section on their website for people who have lost their homes due to foreclosure. The IRS also reassured homeowners that, although mortgage workouts and foreclosures can have tax consequences, special relief provisions can often reduce or eliminate the tax bite for financially strapped borrowers who lose their [...]
• Top Ten Money Wasters - 1. Coffee 2. Cigarettes 3. Alcohol 4. Bottled water 5. Manicures 6. Car washes 7. Weekday lunches out 8. Vending machine snacks 9. Interest charges on credit cards 10. Unused memberships source�
• Dead on Last Payment (DOLP) Method to Reduce Credit Card Debt - From David Bach, a killer method he calls DOLPing [Dead on Last Payment] to eliminate credit card debt: 1. Make a list of the current outstanding balances on each of your credit card accounts. 2. Divide each balance by the minimum payment that particular card company wants you to make. The result is that account’s DOLP number. For [...]
• IRS Warns Taxpayers of Tax Avoidance Investigation Scam - In a recent scam, consumers have received a “Tax Avoidance Investigation” e-mail claiming to come from the IRS’ “Fraud Department” in which the recipient is asked to complete an “investigation form,” for which there is a link contained in the e-mail, because of possible fraud that the recipient committed. It is believed that clicking [...]
• PriceProtectr.com Launches New, Free, Money-Saving Website - Price Protectr’s new website is ready to save consumers money. PriceProtectr.com offers a free service where registered users receive an automated message when the price drops on something they’ve purchased. For many consumers, that can mean money back. “The majority of consumers don’t even know about price protection policies and the money they can save,” said CEO [...]